Lift-bridge



A. A. HENDERSON.

LIFT BRIDGE. v APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2l. |918.

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A. A. HENDERSON.

LIFT BRIDGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, I9I8.

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INVEN-ro'n ADELBERT A. HENDERSON, OF WILKINSBUBG, PENNSYLVANIA.

Lrrmarnen.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

Applioationled November 21, 1918. Serial No. 263,504.

To all whom tfmay concern.'

Be it known that I, ADELBERT A. HENDER- soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Villrinsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new` and useful Improvements inLift-Bridges, of which the following is a specification.

The prime object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved bridge structure of the movable or lifting bridge type designedfor spanning navigable waters, and of a character capable of sustainingheavy loads passing over the bridge.

Further objects of the present invention are to provide, at all timesand without any interruption whatever during navigable stages of water,an opening of any required clearance for water traiiic; to provide, atall times and without any interruption whatever, an unobstructed orvuninterrupted passageway for all traffic passing over the bridge, and aconstruction permitting the bridge to be raised, lowered, and supportedat any intermediate elevation between cerj tain ixed limits, conformablywith the vary-V ing stage of water.

In the' accompanying drawings .which illustrate applications of myinvention,

Figure lis a side elevational View of a bridge constructed in accordancewith my invention, showing kthe normal positiony of the bridge;

Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the bridge raised;

Fig. 3, a side elevational view showing a plurality of tilting spans oneach side of the vertical movable span, with the bridge raised;

Fig.` 4, a side elevational detail view particularly showing the mannerof supporting tlieends of the tilting spans nearest the shore; c

F ig..5, a view similar to Fig. 4 showing a modified construction;

Fig. 6, a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1; and

Figf?, a detail side elevational view showing the manner of supportingthe adjacent ends of the'tilting and vertically movable spans.'

Referring to the drawings and vfirst to the form of bridge shown by Fig.1,. 2 designates a navigable stream and 3 abutments of any approved'construction located on opposite sides of the stream. As yillustrated,piers 4 are so disposed as to provide a central channel, although thenumber and arrangement of the piers, as well as ther mechanism employedfor raising and lowering the bridge structure, may be varied.

A desirable construction in accordance with my invention includes, acentral verti cally movable span 5 and two end-tiltin spans 6. Each ofthe spans is formed witg a roadway, the level of which is indicated bythe numeral 7.

Therpower means for raising and lowering' the movable parts of thebridge may comprise any suitable means, as screws, lifting cables, etc.,familiar to those skilled in bridge construction. As shown, I employhydraulic cylinders or jacks 8 partly located within and partlyprojecting from the piers 4. y v

The manner of mounting the adjacent ends of the central and tiltingspans on an upper plate member 9 of the hydraulic operatingv structure 8is particularly shown by Fig. 7, and thepreferrd manner of. supportingthe opposite or abutment ends of the tilting spans isillustratedby Fig. 4.

As shown, separated blocks or shoes 11 and 10 fixedly secured to plates9 are employed for the' respective points of support of the tiltingspans and the vertically movable span, said points ofsupport being indicated by the numerals 13 and 12. l

14 designates a block mounted on and secured toan abutment 3, and 15 arockerpost extending upwardly from block 14. In this construction, thepoint of support 16 is located above the surface of the roadway 7 andthe point of support 13 of the opposite yend of the tilting span belowthe roadway floor, the point of support lbeing preferably placed at anelevation midway between the lowest and highest positions assumed bythe'point of support 13 at the pier. This construction provides,theminimum of hori- Zontal motion for the points of supports'13 and 16 asthe span moves from one extreme position to the other. -`It is alsopreferable in this construction to makey the vertical distance of thepoint of support 16 above the roadway floor equal the `vertical distanceof the point 13 belowsaid floor.

Operating the tilting Vspans under the con- -struction described resultsina horizontal Imovement of the two terminals of roadway at the ends ofthe respective end spans in a direction toward each other, thus equallydividing the horizontal movement between the ends of said spans when thespan 1s raised to its highest position. rIlle movement ot said tiltingspans causes each to rotate about its two points of support 13 and 1Gand causes the point or' support 13 to move in a vertical plane and thepoint of support 16 in an are ot a circle about the point of support etthe rocker-post 15.

it' preferred, the rocker-posts 15 may be omitted and the masonrycarried up suite ciently to have the point of support 16 rest thereon.Under this latter construction, the point oi" support 13 will move in avertical plane and the point 01"' support 16 in a horizontal plane.

In the form of F ig. 5 I have shown a construction in which the point ofsupport 16 for the abutment end of the tilting span is placed below theroadway 7 and mounted on roller bearings 17. In this instance, the pointof support forthe tilting span at the pier will also be below theroadway floor. Io equally divide the horizontal movement of the twoterminals of the roadway under this last construction, the verticaldistance of the points ot support below the roadway at the respectiveends of the spans should be developed along the lines described inconsidering the construction of the form of Fig. 1. In cases in whichthe points of support for the tilting spans are ,placed below theroadway, the point of support at the pier will move, in a vertical planeand the point at the abutment ina horizontal plane, the span beingdesigned to rotate about the two Vpoints when it is tilted. In the formof F ig. 3 I have shown a plurality of tilting spans G on-each side ofthe central vertically movable span 5 and an additional number of piers41 and lifting mechanism 8, otherwise the construction is substantiallythe same as shown and described in the form of Fig. 1.

In all of the forms illustrated and as pre ferred, the points of support12 for the vertically movable span 5 are disposed below -the roadwayfloor and it will be understood that in raising and lowering the bridgesaid points of support are moved in a vertical plane.

In operation, the channel or central span 5 is moved up and down byraising and lowering its two points of support-12 substantially equallyand simultaneously, and the end spans 6 are tilted by raising andlowering the respective points of support 13 at the piers,'equally andsimultaneouslyy with the .points or support 12. The points of supportfor the tilting spans at the abutments have no vertical motion, or atmost, a negligible quantity,

The advantage `this type or" movable bridgepossesses over a fixed bridgeto con neet any two given points, is that it maintains a passageway ofrequired clearance for water traimobtainable in a fixed bridge only whenconstructed at the maximum elevation assumed by the movable bridge, andwhenever the said movable bridge occupies a position lower than itsmaximum elevation it provides a roadway of less grade than thatfurnished by the iixed bridge. The advantage it possesses over all othertypes of movable bridges is that it is operated without any interruptionof either the land tratlic or water traiic.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a bridge structure, a vertically movable span, an adjacent tiltingspan, positively operating means for simultaneously effecting a verticalmovement of the adjacent ends of said spans, and means for permitting alateral movement of the opposite end of said tilting span.

2. In a bridge structure, a vertically movable span, an adjacentpivotally mounted tilting span, positively operating means forsimultaneously effecting a vertical movement ofthe adjacent ends of saidspans, and means for permitting a lateral movement of the oiposite endet' said tilting span.

3. n a bridge construction, a central vertically movable span, adjacenttilting spans, positively operating means for effecting a verticalmovement of the adjacent ends of the central and tilting spans, andmeans for permitting a lateral movement of the opposite ends of thetilting spans.

1l. In a bridge construction, a` central span having its points ofsupport movable in a vertical plane, adjacent tilting spans having theirpoints of support adjacent the points of support of the central spanmovable in aver-tical plane, means for effecting a vertical movement ofsaid points of support, and means for permitting a lateral movement ofthe points of support of the opposite ends of the tilting spans.

5. A lift bridge including a roadway floor, a vertically movablelift-span having its points of support disposed below the' ioor,adjacent tilting spans, with the points olf' support for the ends of thetilting spans nearest the vertically movable span disposed in ahorizontal plane below the floor rand with the points of support of theopposite ends disposed in a different horizontal plane, and positivelyoperating means for moving the spans.

6. A lift bridge including a roadway floor, a vertically movablelift-span having its points of support disposed below the Hoor, adjacenttilting spans, with the points of support for the ends of the tiltingspans nearest the vertically movable span disposed below the floor, andwith the point of support for the ends of the tilting spans at theabutments disposed above the floor, and positively operating means formoving the spans.

7. A lift bridge including a roadway Hoor, a vertically movablelift-span having its points of support disposed below the floor,adjacent tilting spans, with the points ol. support for the ends of thetilting spans nearest the vertically movable span disposed below thefloor, and with the point of support for the ends of the tilting spansat the abutments disposed above the floor, said last mentioned point ofsupport for each tilting span being substantially the same y verticaldistance above the floor as the distance of the. opposite point ofsupport is below the floor, and positively operating means for movingthe spans.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

` ADELBERT A, HENDERSON. VQ/vitnesses J. M. GEOGHEGAN, `Lois WINEMAN.

